Making Your Own Templates

[replaceablehead]

im currently doing my second guitar project and last time i didnt bother with a router template for the body it turned out alright though but this time i want to make a rely good template. so ive already had one go with some mdf. i got a cad and printed it off to scale and then glued the paper straight onto the mdf, then i mounted my dremel with a drum sander attachment into a jig i made so its level like a spindle sander. then i rough cut the mdf near the line and sanded it, but the problem is i couldnt see the line very well cause the paper tended to crinkle slighty and the drum sander didnt work nearly as good as i thought it would. so can anyone give my any advice on improving my idea?

i thought maybe i could tranfer the design onto the mdf using lacquer thinner tranfer cause i hav a laser printer that way i dont hav to mess around with paper. and maybe try hand sanding it. yeah so if anyone has any tricks tips or techneques i'd appreciate it.

[Tristan]

Use a band saw to cut out the pattern. I'd suggest 1/4" plexiglass. With plexiglass you can see through it to get the best position on the wood, and if it's going to be a finish that isn't solid you can see the best way the shape looks with the grain/look of the wood.

If you're dead set on using MDF, I can't really help you. Did you try a spray adhesive to apply the shape? i think that might help with the paper crinkling instead of using something like white glue.

[replaceablehead]

Yeah spray adhesive probly would work better but im experimenting with tranfering it with lacquer thinner but if that doesnt work ill try adhesive.

[Mickguard]

I've used carbon paper -- just carefully trace the lines.

[Sami Ghouri]

i did it with plywood instead of MDF.... simply printed the shape to scale, glued it with spray adhesive on a thicker piece of cardboard, fixed it on the piece of ply, traced it with a permanent marker on the ply (the edge of the cardboard was about .5mm thick which was good enough for the marker to trace) and voila! i rough cut then sanded with sandpaper and a sanding block.... i got a pretty good template!

[replaceablehead]

the lacquer tranfer was pretty cool but because the shape was so large and the line only fairly thin it didnt work very well a bit patchy so i think ill try some adhesive and maybe some thinner wood so its easier to sand and hand sand it. should work pretty good.

[CrazyManAndy]

I use the 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Works like a charm.

CMA

[Mickguard]

I use the 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Works like a charm.

CMA

I've used that too, and he's right, I've had no issues with tearup.

I like the "trace the cardboard template" idea too, although it's kind of like doing the same work twice.

Then again, getting your templates right is THE most important step in your build.

[bluesy]

i did it with plywood instead of MDF.... simply printed the shape to scale, glued it with spray adhesive on a thicker piece of cardboard, fixed it on the piece of ply, traced it with a permanent marker on the ply (the edge of the cardboard was about .5mm thick which was good enough for the marker to trace) and voila! i rough cut then sanded with sandpaper and a sanding block.... i got a pretty good template!

I just print it on normal printer paper, cut it out and fix it too some MDF (or whatever you want for the template material) with a couple of pieces of tape, then go around the edge with a permanent marker. I use a wide tip and keep it about half on the paper. If you use a light touch, you can feel the paper thickness with the tip and mostly follow that. When you remove the paper later you have half the line you drew, with the inside just about the perfect shape of the paper. Then I cut it out carefully with an electric jigsaw, and finally smooth/correct with a file.

[replaceablehead]

i think the dremel drum sander may hav been partly wat was wrong with mine. i had a look on a few woodwork sites and they reckon a drum sander with a small radius tends to make divets if i had a drill press or something i could try a bigger one, but i think hand sanding might be the go.

[DC Ross]

I print mine out on normal paper and use stick glue to glue it to hardboard. I like the hardboard because it is easy to cut & drum sand to final shape. It's also very light and tough which makes for a great template.

[ToneMonkey]

I'm going to send my CAD plans up to the laser cutters next time I need some templates.

[Woodenspoke]

I think your choice of MDF is a good one especially if your routing.

Spray adhesive and any other technique for bonding paper to wood will work. However I question the use of a dremel to sand out the profile. You really need a large drum in a drill press 2" PLUS.

I always coat my template edges with epoxy to harden the MDF. If you do make a mistake the epoxy can also be used to adjust your lines outward or to fix dings or nicks.